Fez, Morocco to London, England: Travel Day

So I’ll start off by saying, Fez wasn’t how I would have liked to end our time in Morocco. We loved everywhere else we went. We would have scheduled less driving, but we were so pleased with all that we saw. The Medina in Fez was just a really difficult place to end our time in Morocco. I don’t want it to seem like we/I didn’t fully enjoy our experience. Fez was just truly difficult to navigate, to tolerate due to the noise, the smells, the constant barrage of hassling on the street. It was just completely different from every other place we stayed in Morocco. It didn’t help 3/4-1/2 of us were having stomach issues by this point, and food was very difficult to come by.

Anyway, so we start off this day at 4:30am, waking to do our final packing, get the kids dressed and ready so our host can pick us up by 5am. He finally shows up at 5:15, asking ‘am I late?’ Ugh! We get to the airport and then he wants us to pay for our airport rides. This was something that was posted on Air BnB as covered with the rental. We give him was money we have left, then confront about the unexpected cost. Amazingly they were then fine, with what we’ve paid.

Morocco has beautiful airports but their security is crazy! Never complain again about security in the US. We were screened getting into the building. We checked in at the counter, and went through the regular security screening.

By this point Ty was banking on the lounge for ‘real/safe’ food to eat. We were so happy to see it, however, it was the smallest lounge we have ever been to!

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Yep, this is, it! But it had free drinks, croissants, and yogurt, so we were happy.

There is a security screening again before you can go to your gate. Ty got flagged but the kids and I didn’t. So we jumped on the plane and had our fingers crossed for Ty. He passed security but they tried to charge him for an extra bag. He had to wait while they verified that there were 4 of us traveling with him. They finally let him get on, and we were so happy to be leaving Morocco. (This is sad to say, since we really loved the country!)

Three hours of blissful iPad, and iPhone time for all of us. We landed in London and it was like a breath of fresh air from the get go. We went to the bathroom without any attendants hassling us for money. There were trash cans, soap, plenty of paper towels! I swear, it’s the little things that make all the difference.

The fun ended soon after our bathroom break though. We hit the line for customs and it was LONG! We waited over an hour before we actually hit the part that was the snaked dividers. This was of course, where three people tried to sneak into the line. The people ahead of us, managed to throw a fit and push them back. Then it became a battle between myself, the lovely woman behind me and the line cutters. Even Ty (my non-confrontational husband) exchanged some words with them! I finally cut them off at a turn around point. The lovely woman behind me pushed right past them to do the same. But they maintained their place in line, an hour ahead of where they should have been. It sounds so petty and minor but I swear it’s one of those moments that can cause a riot.

It took us over three hours from getting off our plane to getting through customs. It was BRUTAL! But the kids survived, and so did we. I was so happy to see that little grocery store they have outside the Underground. So much for us having an early check in and exploring for the day in London.

We found the train we needed into downtown and we thought it was the direct line. Well apparently something had been stuck on the tracks. So we had the slowest train ride. It stopped numerous times, and went so slowly through every stop. It was just like one more thing that wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t going our way.

We finally get out at our stop and it was glorious to be back in London. Even if it only was for two days.

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Ty was still feeling poorly, but the kids and I were restless. So I found the British Library on Trip Advisor. I figured out how to get us there on the Underground, and we were off! It was so nice to feel comfortable traveling on my own again.

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The library was a bit of a bust for us. We were hoping for a kids area, that we could just relax in, and read some books. This was a bit too high brow for that though, more exhibits, and rare displays I think.

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L was starting to fade so we left the library soon after arriving. But we had to go back through Kings Cross station and they have a half trolley there at Platform 9 3/4, along with a Harry Potter store. So we found it and check that out for a bit, before I realized we were going to be late meeting Ty for dinner.

We got back to the Tube, found our train and squished in with all the other evening commuters. Poor Ty expected us about an hour earlier so he was getting nervous for us. But all was fine. We met up and went to an Indian restaurant he had researched. It was extremely fancy, with candles and fine table linens. I was a bit nervous for how the kiddos would do. But it was worth any stress I may have had. The meal was so delicious!! By the end the kids were falling asleep. So we whisked them back to the hotel, and threw them into bed. All excited with the knowledge that the next day we would be visiting Harry Potter Studio for the tour!!!! This was pretty much our whole reason for coming back to London. 🙂